Method of making typewriter ribbons



Jan. 4, 1938. s, NElDlcH. 2,104,237

METHOD'OF MAKING TYPEWRITER RIBBONS Original Filed Feb. 28, 1936 INVENTOR JAM/1. A. 02/0/01 1 fi ATTORNEY Patented Jam 19 38 1 t I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE aroozsr- Samuel A. Neidich, Burlington. N. 1., asaignor, by

memo assignments, to Underwood Elliott l 'iaher Company, New York, N. Y a corporation of Delaware Original application February 28, 1938, Serial No. 68,239. Divided and this application June 30.

8 Claims. (CI. 91-88) 1111s invention relates to a method of making reserve a large quantity of the ink suitably retypewriter ribbons or ribbons of similar character distributed for successive type impacts. for use in adding or calculating machines, time To the end of producing such a ribbon, the and date stamps, and all analogous uses.- This present invention contemplate'stheuseof afabric application for patent is a division of an applicabase which is in major part, if not entirely, of 5 tion filed by me for Typewriter ribbon and artificialsilkyarns preferably of cellulose acetate,

method of making same under date of Feb. 28, each yarn being made from a plurality of fila- 1936, Serial No. 66,239. merits which may be originally processed in any It is an object of the invention to provide an of the known ways to increase their strength. 10 improved method of making such ribbons where- The cellulose acetate filaments in the yarn have 10 in fabric in the form of a wide web may be fed no absorbency of consequence with respect to the to an ink supply and saturated with ink prior to ink compound, but have high capillary action the formation of separate ribbons therefrom, and tending to lead the ink deep into the interstices the ink-saturated web. subsequently cut into a between the associated filaments and maintain it multiplicity of. ribbons. This method involves adthere until a type impact forces a part of it vantages in the saving of labor and time over the against the work sheet. It appears that as a part former methods of separately and primarily proof. the ink is delivered to the work sheet a reducing the ribbons from the clean sheet or web distribution of the ink takes place in the ribbon and subsequently separately ink-treating each and continuous repeated ype Impacts n the ribbon. The present method also includes a feasame area; of the ribbon will deliver suitable quanture of intermittently treating the clean fabric titles of theink over an extremely long period of web as it is fed to render portions of it nontime. This s a unt d r in part y t fa absorbent to the ink so that as the web is subseth t the material of the filaments is nonquently fed through the ink bath an ink-repellent absorbent and that the slightly viscous ink is not area will be provided at equi-spaced points along taken into the material of the filament but, on the 25 the web corresponding to the desired lengths of otherhand. trav ls by ap llary action alon the the ribbons to be cut therefrom. filaments of the yarns and transiently locates in It is a further object of the invention to pmthe interstices between the filaments so as to be vide a simple and inexpensive method of sealing capable over a long period of time of easy transfer t longitudinal edges of, ribbon ut from b to the work sheet in small but sufficient quantity and preferably to effect this sealing by fusing or on each type impact and general redistribution coalescing the ends of the filler threads of the following any applied P r Using a size fabric with the longitudinal or warp threads adf r the wa p an filling ya s o approximately jacent the edges. Preferably this is done by the 50 (denier) and each n havin a filament application of a solvent such as acetone, and it Count fa p i e y 10 t0 suflicient space has b r u d advantageous t apply th 1. is provided between the filaments for the heavy vent simultaneously with the cutting of the web loading of the typ bbon ink and for the mm flbbon3 delivery of the same in small amounts under the It has been a problem in this art to produce a impacts 0! the y Obviously t e i s loaded 40 light, thin, flexible ribb hich will insur sharp to some extent between the individual yarns of writing in transfer, which is of suitable strength the weave, as well as between the associated filato withstand the heavy and constantly repeated m nts 1 the y 11 pp a ha th major impacts of the type of a typewriter or other busiportion of the ink is transiently stored between ness machine; which shall be devoid of lint or the filaments. 45

other releasable fibrous matter which would clog Referring now to the drawing in which is illusthe types and interfere with the sharpness of trated a preferred series of steps employed in the future writing and in which the ink is so'loaded improved method of manufacture of artificial silk that its delivery may be only in such amount as ribbons: i

M is necessary for proper marking, so as to carry in Figure 1 of the drawing is a diagrammatic view showing how ah artificial silk web is treated to produce a clean-end ribbon.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view showing how an artificial silk web, either with or without the processing illustrated in Figure 1, is loaded with ink and subsequently cut into a multiplicity of. ribbons and the longtudinal edges of each ribbon sealed against raveling, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of spaced cutters employed in carrying out the method.

The method steps illustrated by Figure 2 of the drawing will be described first.

At Hi there is indicated a roll of artificial silk fabric of a width, for example, of 18 inches. The leading end of this web is passed over an idler I l, thence downwardly into a container l2 partly filled with the before mentioned non-drying ink or any other suitable dyeing composition or solution. The web end is led around a roller [3 in the container l2 and upwardly to pressure rollers i4 where the compound is forced into the interstices of the fabric and yarns and excess compound is squeezed out of the web. Then the web supported at 2! and spring urged at 22 to force aplurality of spaced circular cutters 23 against the web backed by the steel roller [3. The rollers 23 are loosely journaled in the frame 20 as indicated at 24 and are rotated in the cutting operation in consequence of their contact with the moving web. Below the steel roller iii a container 25 is supported and carries a loosely mounted roller 26 contacting with a roller 21 which in turn contacts the cutters 23.

The container 25 carries a suitable edge-sealing medium which is transferred by the roller 26 to the intermediate roller 21 which latter is preferably of soft rubber and the sealing medium is in turn transferred to the cutting edges of the cutters 23 and deposited on the longitudinal edges of the ribbons simultaneously with the cutting of the same from the web.

In producing ribbons of thetype hereinbefore referred to, acetone, preferably rendered somewhat viscous by the addition of cellulose acetate, is carried in the container 25 and transferred, as described, to the cutters where its action upon the edges of the cut ribbon is to fuse the ends of the short filler threads with one or more of the warp threads at the edges of the ribbon. A drip pan for catching solution from the cutters 23 and the rollers 26 and 21, is indicated at 29.

The web ind icated at Iii in Figure 2 may be a clean weave or it may have been treated according to the method steps illustrated by Figure 1 which will now be described. I

In that figure, 30 illustrates a roll of artificial silk webbing the end of which is led over a roller 3|, under a roller 32, through a drying chamber 33, between feed rolls 34 to a wind-up roll 38. If for example, it is desired to produce typewriter ribbons having a length of 12 yards, one of the feed rolls 34, in the present case the lowefone, is provided with a worm 35 meshing with a worm gear 36 having 36 teeth. The feed or pull rolls. 34 in such case have a circumference of exactly 12 inches so that 36 revolutions of these rollers will feed the web 12 yards and at the same time eifect one revolution of the worm gear 33 and its shaft 31. The shaft carries a cam 38 adapted to engage a lip 38 on a bar-40 once every rotation of the worm gear 36, and actuate the bar 40 to the position indicated by the dotted lines in the drawing. The other end of the bar 4|] is suitably connected to a pivotally supported frame 4| for the roller 32, and that roller is depressed by the action of the cam to bring the web temporarily into contact with a roller 42 loosely mounted in a container 43. Obviously the cam may be suitably shaped to continue the contact for a desired feed of the web, 8 or 10 inches of contact being considered suitable for the preparation of ordinary typewriter ribbon. With respect to the herein described ribbons of cellulose acetate weave the container 43 carries a suitable solvent such as acetone and for the period of feed, while the roller 32 is depressed to contact the web with the roller 42, the acetone is supplied to the fabric. The treated area of the fabric then passes through the drier 33 which evaporates the solvent prior to the cloth coming in contact with the feed rollers 34. Thereafter the intermittently treated web may be passed through the steps illustrated in Figure 2 and all portions of the web are loaded with the ink except the treated areas of 8 or 10 inches length which occur every 12 yards. These areas are non-absorptive of the ink compound due to the effect of the acetone on the acetate and consequently these areas pass through the apparatus illustrated in Figure 2 without saturation by the ink.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of making a typewriter ribbon which comprises subjecting a cellulose acetate weave at spaced regions to the action of a solvent such as acetone and subsequently passing the weave through an ink bath.

2: The method of making typewriter ribbons which comprises inking a wide cellulose acetate fabric and subsequently fusing the longitudinal edges of narrow strips of said fabric by the application of a solvent.

3. The method of making typewriter ribbons from a web of artificial silk which consists of treating the web at ribbon lengths with ink repellent material, subsequently feeding the web through a bath of an oil base ink composition to cause the web to be saturated with the composition except where treated with the ink repellent material, and feeding the web to cutters to separate the web into ribbons by lengthwise cuts. a

4. The method of making typewriter ribbons from a web of artificial silk which consists of continuously feeding the web and periodically treating it for short lengths with ink repellent .material, drying the treated web, subsequently feeding the web through an ink composition and saturating it with ink except where treated, then cutting the web into ribbons lengthwise as it is fed and applying a sealing medium continuously along the edges of the ribbons.

5. The method of making typewriter ribbons from a web composed at least in part of an organic derivative of cellulose, which consists of feeding the web and periodically applying for a short length of feed a solvent for the cellulose derivative, evaporating the solvent, then passing the web through an ink composition to saturate it with the composition except where the solvent was applied, cutting the web in the direction of feed into ribbons, and sealing the inked edges of the ribbons.

6. The method of making typewriter-ribbons froma web composed at least in part of an organic derivative of cellulose, which consists of feeding the web and periodically applying, for a short length of feed, a solvent for the cellulose derivative, evaporating the solvent, then passing the web through an ink composition to saturate it with the composition except where the solvent was applied, cutting the web in the direction of feed into ribbons and sealing the inked edges of the ribbons by the continuous application to the edges of a solvent for the cellulose derivative.

7. The method of making typewriter ribbons of a weave which is at least in part of an artificial silk, which consists of inking the weave and subsequently feeding it and continuously applying a sealing medium to its edges.

8. The method of making typewriter ribbons of a weave which is at least in partof cellulose acetate, which consists oi inking the weave, teeding the inked weave to cutters to separate it into ribbons, and continuously applying a cellulose acetate solvent to the cutters for transfer to the 

